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Old 01-20-2009, 09:52 PM   #1
Quadrone
 
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Default [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

Warren White
Today just might be the worst day of Warren’s life. OK, granted the fact that it ends with his death kind of makes it the worst by default, but even before that point he is not having a good time. He is awakened from a series of dreams about being slowly devoured by caterpillars by a call from his personal tormentor-cum-girlfriend Crystal. She shrilly demands that he must without fail meet her for lunch, with suitable and expensive gifts to make up for some slight that Warren doesn’t recall, or kiss their relationship goodbye.

His attempts to reclaim the relative refuge of sleep are obliterated by a second phone call a few minutes later, this time from his employer Art “Picasso” Ferretti, inviting Warren to join him for lunch at The Pelican, Ferretti’s hotel and front business. Of the two, Warren finds Ferretti just barely more threatening and keeps that appointment. He is nearly half and hour late due to a tragic convergence of a garbage truck, his prized Harley, and his lack of knowledge of the Las Vegas public transit system.

Lunch is a tense affair. Warren sits at the end of the boardroom table, bookended by Gimper and Boilerplate, the boss’s favorite enforcers. Ferretti sits at the other end, silently watching Warren eat and not touching a morsel himself. When Warren finally clears his plate, a task made more difficult by the snakes writhing in his stomach, Ferretti stands and tosses two ledger books in front of him. Warren recognizes the first as his own work. And he recognizes the figures in the second as a more accurate representation of his employer’s accounts. Ferretti pats Warren on the head with a sad, paternal look on his face and leaves the room without saying a word.

During the ride to King’s Lake, Gimper and Boilerplate keep up a friendly conversation about sports and movies. Their joviality persists even as they encase his feet in concrete and wrap a heavy steel chain around his wrists. Gimper mutters “Sorry about this, kid” as if apologizing for a minor injury before the two goons push him out of the boat.

The first thing Warren notices as he sinks into the dark is the peaceful silence. For once, he has a respite from the din of slot machines, bitter arguments and threats, and shrieking demands. But the thudding of his heart in his ears seems to continually grow until it becomes thunderous. As the sunlight above the water fades away, the thunder merges with a howling wind that seems to strangle and tear at him.

Warren is on the lake shore, fragments of concrete still sticking to his feet and a few broken chain links in his hand. The sun has set. Barely aware of what he’s doing, he makes his stumbling and shaky way to the nearby highway. He spots a pair of headlights rounding a corner just as his strength gives out and he collapses on the gravel shoulder.

Last edited by Quadrone; 01-20-2009 at 10:11 PM.
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Old 01-20-2009, 09:54 PM   #2
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Default Levi Halberstam

For weeks the signs have been the same, however Levi chooses to read them. Scriptural searches keep turning up reference to cities and sin. Numerological correspondences continually yield a string of numbers that turn out, after much contemplation and deduction, to be a latitude and longitude in Nevada. The conclusion is inescapable, something in Las Vegas seems to be calling to him. Less clear are the visions of seabirds, their beak pouches overflowing with fish, that fill his dreams.

It is just past nightfall as he finally nears his destination. With but a dozen miles to go, a movement on the roadside ahead catches his eyes. Levi has to brake quickly to avoid hitting the young man who has fallen senseless just a couple of yards from where his car comes to a halt.
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Old 01-21-2009, 08:21 AM   #3
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

"Oy Gevalt!" Levi mutters. "See, this is vhat I get. First time out of the community in ages, and this is vhat I get!."

Levi continues to shake his head as he gets out of his car muttering, not quite sure what to make of the situation. His shoulders sag as he once again sighs. "I need this like a loch in kop."

As Levi approaches he notices the young man is soaked to the bone, and seems to be holding a chain. "Oy, kids today."

Levi leans down, hooked his arms under the young mans arm pits, and with some effort drags him back to the front of his idling automobile. Once there Levi props the young man in a sitting position with his back against the bumper and grill of the car.

"Boytchik, Boytchik!" Levi begins to repeatedly pat the young man on the cheek. "Vake up boytchik. I think you've been in some sort of accident."

Last edited by JewMoney; 01-23-2009 at 07:38 AM.
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Old 01-21-2009, 08:40 PM   #4
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

The feeling of warm asphalt radiating heat into the cool Nevada night. Comforting. The flash of headlights and he hopes the car doesn't stop... but it does. Some old guy dressed in terribly dated clothing.

The man props Warren up against the car. Chain? Yes he still has a death grip on the length of chain. <OOC: are the end links in the chain malformed in any way giving any clue to what broke them?> He relaxes his grip slightly.

Warren's eyes are glazed over barely comprehending what's being said. Do I need to go to the hospital? He thinks about that and responds by shaking his head. Do I need a lift somewhere?

1st thought that pops into his head... the international airport.
2nd thought with a sinking of his shoulders... back into hell.
3rd thought which he brings himself to cough out... "Coffee. Lulu's All-Nite Diner. Just a couple miles down the road."

Instead of saying please, he rumages in his suit pocket, pulls out a $50 from his money clip and weakly flicks it in his benefactor's direction. That's just the kinda guy Warren White is... a charmer.

Last edited by Xave Taub; 01-22-2009 at 11:47 AM.
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Old 01-22-2009, 09:44 AM   #5
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

"Vhat? This is complete mishegas! You're lucky to be alive, and the first thing you want to do is get something to Nosh?"

Levi stoops down to pick up the bill, reaches in his breast pocket and pulls out a small note book and a gold fountain pen. While Warren gets to his feet Levi puts pen to paper and scribes the Hebrew characters סֹֹתהֶ for Soothe, folds the note with the 50 dollar bill, and then slips it back in to Warrens suit pocket as he helps him into the car.

Back behind the wheel of the automobile Levi once again glances in Warrens direction. Maybe the young man had escaped from an institution. That might explain the chains. "You must have a lot of zol zion mit mazel."

Levi eases the car back on to the highway and points it towards the diner. With a discouraged sigh he says. "You know in some cultures they say 'that if you save someone's life, you are responsible for them for the rest of their life'. Fortunately for me the Jewish culture isn't one of them".

Last edited by JewMoney; 01-26-2009 at 07:30 AM.
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Old 01-22-2009, 12:09 PM   #6
Xave Taub
 
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

Lulu's menu looks just like every other roadside menu except that there's the word "Lulu's" in front of everything. "What's good today, Dot?"

"Cheesecake fresh in this morning, Warren."

"Sounds good. Two Lulu's Cheesecakes and two Lulu's Coffees."

Warren goes to the bathroom to wash his hands. On the way back he puts $5 in the video poker machine and wins the $5 back on the last hand. Just his luck... never getting ahead... just lucky enough to keep going.

He sits back down at the booth as the desserts arrive. Disheveled Armani suit and concrete encrusted Versace snakeskin boots. Dumping sugar into his coffee and stirring, he squints at his companion, "So what's your name again? And what's your deal?"

Last edited by Xave Taub; 01-22-2009 at 01:05 PM.
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Old 01-22-2009, 01:09 PM   #7
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

"Vhat's my deal, you're asking me vhat my deal is? I'm not the schlimazel who just came crawling out of a lake!" Levi shakes his head in disbelief, pulls a flask out of his coat pocket pours a couple of shots into his coffee then takes a big drink.

"I'm Rabbi Halberstam, and if it's not too much to ask I'd appreciate an explanation." Then mutters under his breath. "Oy, vhat a Myoshe kapoyer."
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Old 01-24-2009, 12:46 PM   #8
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

Slowly, Larry comes up out of the abyss that had claimed him the night before. He can feel warmth on his skin and see red behind his eyelids. To Larry this means sunlight, which means morning. He slowly opens his eyes to spy a rat staring at him from atop a pile of garbage.

"Perfect," Larry mutters, "I wake up hungover in an alley. Good thing I didn't get rolled-"

Larry pauses, remembering the events of the previous night. The alley, the mugger with a knife, the girl, Larry pulling his snub-nose out of is pocket, a sharp blow to the back of his head, the struggle, his own gun pointed at him and BAM, he remembers that. Looking down, Larry gazes at a large bloodstain on his shirt front. Patting himself down, he finds a scabbed over wound on his chest.

"Hmm. Musta grazed a rib. Lucky me," he thinks, "Oh, crap, that girl was stabbed in the throat."

Larry looks, no body. "Why would someone take her and leave me. She didn't leave on her own, that was a fatal wound. I've slit enough deer throats to know what arterial spray looks like."

"Man am I hungry, " he mutters again, " Gotta go back to the hotel first and change. Then I could use an honest-to-god, greasy spoon breakfast."

"I wonder if that guy took her," he muses as he makes his way, somewhat unsteadily, through the harsh Vegas sunlight to his hotel. He did remeber a dark figure entering the alley just before he blacked out. "Musta been seein things."

Last edited by cheekymonkey; 01-24-2009 at 07:44 PM. Reason: just cause
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Old 01-24-2009, 05:48 PM   #9
Xave Taub
 
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Default Warren White

Warren appears miffed for a second, then relaxes and shrugs.

"It's almost suffice to say that what bad men do to other bad men while fishing out on a lake isn't really your business. But you did give me a ride here when you didn't have to, and whether your nosiness puts you in danger is neither here nor there to me."

"I ****** off the wrong guys this morning and they sent me for a permenant swim at the bottom of that lake. Apparently my luck held out, maybe they didn't let the concrete dry long enough, maybe that was part of the point. But here I am still alive..."

Warren's eyes narrow; he looks at the Rabbi suspiciously and then feels for his own pulse.

"Yeah, still alive. And now I gotta either skip town or lay low... and since I'm a sucker for punishment and Las Vegas is the only town I know... I guess I'll be layin' low."

"If you don't wanna tell me your story, that's fine with me, but it's gonna be a quiet night with this cup of coffee if you still got nothin' to say."

Last edited by Xave Taub; 01-25-2009 at 07:02 PM.
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Old 01-25-2009, 10:39 AM   #10
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Default Re: [IC] GURPS World of Darkness: Sin City

Don Donaldson sips a cup of joe and writes feverishly in a notebook, pausing occasionally to push some eggs around on a plate and study the morning clientele of Lulu's Diner.
The previous night's injuries seem to have healed nicely, and the stab wound from last weekend is barely a memory.
All in all not too bad.
There's nothing in the paper about last night yet, can't decide whether that's good or bad.
Whoah!!
That uncontrollable convulsing of the head again, lasted what? maybe a second or two. Getting longer or shorter? Hm. Make a note of that. Let's see, what kind of scum do we have here this morning?
His gaze darts around the diner, settling on a disheveled pretty boy and an odd looking old jew. He jots in his notebook, douses his eggs with hot sauce and signals for another cup of coffee.
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